Slides especially for vehicle seats

Claim 2

Slide to enable and to guide the relative slidings of two structures mounted on one another, comprising a lower sectional element adapted to be rigidly fixed to the first structure and an upper sectional element for supporting the second structure, these two sectional elements being designed so as to be mutually slidable along one another with the interposition of ball bearings, said lower sectional element being composed of two Uelements housed one within the other, the inner U-element comprising a relatively narrow base, and two wings of which the upper portions are divergent, each being inclined to the vertical at an angle of from about 30 to about 100* and said upper sectional element comprising an inverted U-element of which the two wings are convergent and designed so as to extend quasicontiguously below said divergent wing portions, ball races for said balls being constituted on one hand by the upper surface of the bottom and the inner surface of the wings of the outer Uelement of the lower sectional element and on the other hand by the outer surface of the convergent wings of the upper sectional element.

Claim 3

Slide according to claim 1, wherein said narrow base is welded to the base of said outer U-element.

Claim 4

Slide according to claim 1, wherein said various sectional elements are all formed of sheet steel of 1.5 mm thickness.

Claim 5

Assembly including in combination two structures and a slide, said two structures being mounted on one another by said slide, said slide comprising a lower sectional element adapted to be rigidly fixed to the first structure and an upper sectional element for supporting the second structure, these two sectional elements being designed so as to be mutually slidable along one another with the interposition of ball bearings, said lower sectional element being composed of two U-elements housed one within the other, the inner U-element comprising a relatively narrow base, and two wings of which the upper portions are divergent, each being inclined to the vertical at an angle of from about 30* to about 100* and said upper sectional element comprising an inverted U-element of which the two wings are convergent and designed so as to extend quasi-contiguously below said divergent wing portions, ball races for said balls being constituted on one hand by the upper surface of the bottom and the inner surface of the wings of the outer U-element of the lower sectional element and on the other hand by the outer surface of the convergent wings of the upper sectional element, said slide having also a locking device comprising: a rack rigidly fixed to one of the divergent wings of the inner U-element of the lower sectional element; a bolt adapted to coact with the slots of said rack in traversing a port formed in the lateral wall of the inverted U-element which runs along said rack; means attached externally to said wall to guide said bolt; and means capable of being actuated by the user of the seat borned by the slide to control the slidings of the said bolt so as to disengage the latter from the rack or on the contrary to introduce it into the slot of the rack.

Claim 6

Assembly including in combination two structures and a slide, said two structures being mounted on one another by said slide, said slide comprising a lower sectional element adapted to be rigidly fixed to the first structure and an upper sectional element for supporting the second structure, these two sectional elements being designed so as to be mutually slidable along one another with the interposition of ball bearings, said lower sectional element being composed of two U-elements housed one within the other, the inner U-element comprising a relatively narrow base, and two wings of which the upper portions are divergent, each being inclined to the vertical at an angle of from about 30* to about 100* and said upper sectional element comprising an inverted U-element of which the two wings are convergent and designed so as to extend quasi-contiguously below said divergent wing portions, ball races for said balls being constituted on one hand by the upper surface of the bottom and the inner surface of the wings of the outer U-element of the lower sectional element and on the other hand by the outer surface of the convergent wings of the upper sectional element, said slide having also a locking device comprising: a rack rigidly fixed to one of the divergent wings of the inner U-element of the lower sectional element; a bolt adapted to coact with the slots of said rack in traversing a port formed in the lateral wall of the inverted U-element which runs along said rack; means attached externally to said wall to guide said bolt; and means capable of being actuated by the user of the seat borned by the slide to control the slidings of the said bolt so as to disengage the latter from the rack or on the contrary to introduce it into the slot of the rack.

Claim 7

Slide assembly according to claim 4, wherein the guide means for the bolt comprise, in addition to said port, a bracket having two outwardly flanged arms welded on said lateral wall so as to straddle said port and a second port in said bracket longitudinally facing said first port.

Claim 8

Slide assembly according to claim 5, wherein the control means for the bolt comprise: a rod extending parallel to the slide and of which One end passes through the two arms of the bracket; a control member rigidly fixed to said rod and easily accessible to a user; a lever keyed on the said rod between the two arms of the bracket so that its free end passes contiguously through a slot cut-out in the bolt; and a torsion spring wound around the rod and supported on one hand against the lever and on the other hand against the bracket so that it urges both the bolt and the rod in the direction of the slide, said rod having at the level of the openings of the bracket that it traverses grooves straddling the edges of these openings, and the cross-section of said openings being sufficient to free a passage at the end of the corresponding rod after a slight transverse displacement and possibly a slight angular displacement from its normal position.

Claim 9

Slide assembly according to claim 6, wherein a second bracket having two outwardly flanged arms is welded on the lateral wall thereabove, the opening formed in the arm, of this second bracket, closest to the first bracket, being traversed by a portion of the rod of non-circular cross-section and designed so as to only permit angular movements of this section of amplitude just sufficient to ensure the desired slidings of the bolt.

Claim 10

Slide assembly according to claim 7, wherein the opening formed in the other arm of the second bracket has a complementary section to that of the said portion of rod when the latter occurs in a position other than that corresponding to locking, said portion extending over a length a little greater than the distance between the two arms of said second bracket.

Claim 11

Slide assembly according to claim 7, wherein the portion of the non-circular cross-section of the rod comprises two identical diametrically opposite ribs.

Claim 12

Slide assembly according to claim 8, wherein the portion of the non-circular cross-section of the rod comprises two identical diametrically opposite ribs.

Claim 13

Slide assembly according to claim 5, wherein the rod comprises two parts connected by a suitable easily removable sleeve.

Claim 14

Slide assembly according to claim 1, wherein the ball-races are of substantially rectangular cross-section, and are occupied in the neighborhood of the two ends of the slide by blocks of rectangular cross-section constituted of plastics material resisting compression and in the central portion of the slide by a spacing bar of plastics material, each ball being mounted between a block and said spacing bar.